Midnight Cleaning Crew
by Fox LeFay
Summary: Olivia stays behind to clean up the mess the Shepherds left behind after dinner. She gets a little help from Stahl.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Awakening, nor any other games in the series. I was asking around for inspiration for writing and I got a request for Oliva/Stahl and something to do with foxes. I cheated a little bit on one of those categories, so hopefully I'm forgiven. Enjoy.**

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The campfire that stood at the center of their lively dinner had died down to a handful of flickering red embers, being stirred wistfully by the chill in the air that they were meant to ward off. Olivia had stayed behind to clean up the surrounding area. Vaike and Sully had gotten into a minor brawl over one of Sumia's pies and the collateral damage left behind was a horrifyingly sticky mess of pasty-innards and a few shards of a dropped plate. She had taken on the task of her own good will and was beginning to regret it as she found more and more bits of food scattered around. Even though they were a group of soldiers, it wouldn't kill them to be more civilized over a meal, Olivia thought to herself with an exasperated shake of her head. They could attract bears if this stuff was left out in the open, and despite Frederick's love of bear meat, there was no way she was going to go back to eating it nor was she going to live in fear of being eaten by one.

She crouched down to pick up one of the largest pieces of Vaike's plate and saw the bushes next to her rustle, accompanied by a sharp, howling bark.

_W-wolves?_ Olivia panicked, quickly sliding away from the source of the noise only to bump into something on her left. She fell on her back, stumbling out of her tense crouch and let out a meager shriek, not having enough air in her terrified lungs to produce the desired scream. As the pink-haired dancer regained her composure upon realizing she hadn't been devoured, she realized that an equally shaken Stahl was standing next to her. She realized she must not have seen him standing there and had knocked into his leg.

"I-I'm sorry Stahl," Olivia choked out. The knight was grinning from ear to ear, obviously unfazed by the collision.

"Don't worry about it. I came out here to look for leftovers but I decided you could probably use my help first," he furrowed his eyebrows and paused for a moment, "I should know better than to surprise you like that, but I don't think I was the only thing out here that scared you." Stahl moved towards the bushes that were still shaking slightly. Much to Olivia's horror, he reached down into them and pulled out a small animal. He held it gently, and it wriggled out of his grasp almost too quickly to be sure of what it was. "It was only a fox. See? Nothing too terrible." He made his way back to her side to take the pile of trash he was working on collecting.

The dancer stared at him for a few moments. "You must be pretty good with animals, huh?" How else would he know that whatever was watching them wasn't going to maul his face off? She finished up clearing the area of the accident and moved closer to Stahl to merge their piles.

"Truth be told, I'm not that great with them. My horse only tolerates me," he laughed quietly at his own joke. Just thinking that a week ago, he'd have to write out his responses to her and practically face the other direction just so that Olivia would feel comfortable around him brought a smile to his face. He was glad that they were developing a friendship. She was a sweet girl, and a welcome calm presence among some of the more eccentric members of the Shepherds. Stahl only wished that she wasn't so shy among strangers. Even though he told her he didn't take it personally, it was still an unpleasant shock the first time he had startled Olivia. He was so used to being the approachable one and suddenly being the source of any unease or worse yet, terror, weighed pretty heavily on him. "But I couldn't stand leaving you behind thinking that there were _wolves_ out here or something."

The two of them worked shoulder to shoulder for a few more minutes in absolute silence. It was the closest they had ever been but the stark hush that had fallen over them gave Stahl the impression that they were back at square one. What good was a friendship if it didn't welcome conversation? Was his second attempt at a Basilio impression really _that_ terrible? If it was offensive, he would have hoped Olivia would have said something. Instead of bringing it up, he decided to add a little sound in hopes of spurring a discussion by humming a simple folk song from his village but it appeared to fall on deaf ears and he clammed up, afraid of driving her away.

Olivia, on the other hand, was trying hard to fight back a blush. Over the past few weeks, Stahl had been more patient with her than nearly anyone in the Shepherds. Sure, it was clumsy and awkward at first, with him writing out notes and trying his best not to get too close, but the newfound familiarity was refreshing. She wasn't sure what was stopping her from talking openly with him. The lump in her throat didn't feel like it was growing any smaller like it had with Chrom and Cordelia and Libra as they talked. Afraid she was overthinking it, she took the collected rubbish and ran it inside to be disposed of in the morning, leaving Stahl behind with a quick, "Thank you."

"Um… you're welcome," Stahl sighed, put out by their failure of an exchange. He felt as dim as the now-dead fire but yet, he still rushed forward to keep up with the young woman. "H-hey, before you go, I want to ask something."

He honestly intended to pose a valid, intellectual question. Sure, he didn't _know_ any off the top of his head but he had hoped that his intentions would jog his brain to say something witty and charming, or anything better than we he did do.

Stahl leaned down and kissed Olivia's cheek, feeling equally elated and guilty as he felt the heat rise just beneath his lips. The woman was blushing brighter than Sully's gleaming red armor and at that, he thought it would be best for both of them if he stepped back.

Olivia made no noise. In fact, she stood stunned, half in the main tent and half out of it. Her face was returning to its usual shade but her heartbeat wasn't slowing. She felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner, but she didn't have the courage to soothe Stahl's fears. Instead, she stayed absolutely still, trying to string together any series of words that wouldn't drive the cavalier away. To her horror, the knight with the flyaway hair turned on his heel.

"That was uncalled for. Excuse me."

He made his way across camp to his tent while Olivia, pinching herself as well as handing herself a few derisive putdowns, returned to her own.

For what felt like months, Olivia stood beside her bed, practicing a few simple steps from a dance she could practically do in her sleep. It allowed her to calm down and laugh off the whole exchange. That was until she heard armored footsteps outside of her tent. They stopped and she saw the shadow of something dropping outside, followed by the footsteps leaving in the opposite direction. Once she thought the coast was clear, Olivia scrambled to the flap of her tent and discovered the neatly folded note that contained Stahl's signature scrawl.

_I hope I haven't scared you off. _

She smiled at his sentiment and began to write her reply on the back of the slip of parchment. Halfway through admitting that she didn't mind, Olivia realized it might be better if she told him that herself. In fact, everything she hoped to say to him would best be done in person.

So she left behind the note and went out to find him.


End file.
